Revelation 21:1-6 (NRSV)
Read Revelation 21:1-6 on biblegateway.com
Chapter 21Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. Verse 2And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. Verse 3And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them as their God; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them; Verse 4he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away." Verse 5And the one who was seated on the throne said, "See, I am making all things new." Also he said, "Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true." Verse 6Then he said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give water as a gift from the spring of the water of life.
Devotion
This passage in one of the last chapters in Revelation is like the unexpected twist at the end of a good mystery novel. The twist is that after all our talk and worry and humor about "getting to heaven," heaven, in the end, is actually described as coming down to us. "And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, 'See, the home of God is among mortals...'"
How utterly surprising! And yet it really shouldn't be. It's what God had envisioned in the first temple: "I will place my dwelling in your midst, and I shall not abhor you. And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and you shall be my people" (Leviticus 26:11-12). It is what we confess that God did in Christ: "And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father's only son, full of grace and truth (John 1:14). And it is what Christ promised us through the gift of the Spirit: "And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever... You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you (John 14:16-17).
Prayer
Lord, abide in me today and guide my thoughts, words, and actions as I seek to abide in you. Amen.